http://UKIP-vs-EUkip.blogspot.com is the current main link but much of the archive is at http://Caterpillarsandbutterflies.blogspot.com - to identify me + Contact data http://GregLanceWatkins.blogspot.com

I am writing to you to inform you of my resignation, with immediate effect, from the United Kingdom Independence Party, my position as an elected member of the UKIP Wales Committee and from my position as Vice- Chairman of the UKIP Cardiff & District Branch.

After many weeks of deliberating, I have come to the conclusion that UKIP has become a hindrance to Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. UKIP professes to be the flagship Euro Sceptic pressure group in Britain (to describe it as a true political party, would, I believe, be a gross misrepresentation). This places a serious responsibility upon the shoulders of the party, one it does not take seriously enough. From the perspective of a pro- European, UKIP have become ideal opponents, a party led by useful idiots and therefore being a joke opposition.

The fight to regain control of Britain's sovereignty needs and deserves a serious political party with a mature core message, a clear strategy for getting that message across and must be led by political heavyweights. UKIP has failed on all these grounds. It cannot decide whether it is a political party or a pressure group, and as a result has not succeeded in being either. Your initial response during your short time as leader has been to treat UKIP as a Conservative Party splinter group, whilst still lacking any serious policies. If I had wanted to belong to the Conservative Party, I would have joined it.

These frustrations on my part are nothing new, and judging by the rapid decline in membership since 2004, this is a view shared by a large number of others.

Yet my principal reasons for resigning relate specifically to you, your controlling cabal and your unacceptable behaviour over recent months, most specifically, the series of events that began at the Exeter hustings of July 30th. Simon Muir, David Noakes, Richard Suchorzewski's solicitor and others have seen and verified the validity of a letter signed by a bona fide member of UKIP clearly stating Annabelle Fuller introduced herself as a member of the Press Office and clearly showed herself to be an 'intimate' of yours. She solicited the conversation with a stranger and stated unequivocally that Richard Suchorzewski had lied about his background and CV and that he was a BNP supporter.

Your employee Mark Croucher also made similar accusations on a public internet forum. Mr Croucher's twisted logic that Mr Suchorzewski's alleged links to Greg Lance- Watkins somehow make him a BNP plant is bovine in the extreme. Mr Suchorzewski and Mr Lance- Watkins are more febrilely connected as allies with the BNP than you are through your well publicised and close

association with Mark Deavlin.

I have given you and your clique several opportunities to substantiate these serious accusations, yet all I received from you was an ill- mannered and abusive response on one occasion and no reply at all on others.

During the past 18 months I have worked closely with Mr Suchorzewski and can have consistently found him to be a man of integrity and great talent who was willing to work long hours and without pay to help UKIP develop into a serious political force.

It appears that as soon as he became a threat to your control of the party you resorted to using the politics of the gutter to destroy him. The accusations you made against Mr Suchorzewski were especially absurd when one considers members of his family were killed in the Holocaust and he is in a stable relationship with a woman of Afro- Caribbean origin. Even I was surprised by how low you were prepared to sink to destroy him.

I concede you are a quite brilliant media performer, but I have come to the conclusion that this is where your talents begin and end. Your track record in all other areas has been truly shambolic. You have been convicted of misusing party funds. You have overseen a catastrophe at the Ashford call centre where just 15% of all money raised ever reached the party. Can you enlighten me and the many other concerned members as to which black hole the generous donations of ordinary members fell into?

And can you enlighten those of us on modest incomes just how much of your generous salary you have donated to the party? Or do you rely solely on us members and the naïve Alan Bown to fund ego- trips such as your campaign in the Bromley by- election in which every vote you gained cost £86 in campaign money?

Since you became leader many decent people at every level of the party have resigned, and, after a period of reflection, I have decided to do likewise.

My own personal experience of you has taught me a lot about your character. On an occasion during the 2005 conference you personally assured me a Youth Movement would be set up in the near future. A long conversation, followed by a period of email correspondence with your Personal Assistant of the time persuaded me you were serious about this, whereas in reality it was a ploy to turn me against the successful “Youthkip” movement set up by younger members of the Lechlade Group.

Then, in December of last year, the last time we met in person, you once again assured me that the launch of the Youth movement was “imminent” and likely to occur in February of this year. Your PA then refused to answer emails written by myself or any other younger members of the party who wanted this to be set up.

How is it possible to come to any conclusion other than that the only purpose of this exercise was to turn me against a then- thriving “Youthkip” Movement, favouring the “official” Youth movement which, in truth, you never had any intention of launching?

How can I have confidence in a leader who behaves in such a way?

Your short period as leader so far has fared little better. On day one of your leadership you referred to myself and others who have dared question you as, “A small number of malcontents”, thereby implying we were in some way trouble makers rather than people merely revealing the truth about you and your conduct. You then went on to attack those of us who subscribe to the “Democracy Forum” during your conference speech. It seems you simply dislike those who dare to question you or your conduct in any way.

It also seems you have learnt nothing from past mistakes when it comes to celebrity endorsements. You stupidly invited the mock shock jock James Whale to represent UKIP as the party’s London Mayoral election candidate. Mr Whale is clearly using this as a ploy to draw attention to himself and increase ratings for his radio show- he has no intention of joining UKIP or representing the party at any level, yet you have allowed him to use the party as a self- publicity tool. Does this remind you of anyone?

Finally, I turn to the state of the party in Wales. Following the resignation of Mr Suchorzewski as UKIP Wales Chairman, John Pratt, a decent and honourable man, was elected to take his place.

Whilst I hold Mr Pratt in high regard, the notion that he would make a good Chairman is frankly laughable. How can an elderly man, who has numerous commitments outside politics, as well as having no access to the internet and who admits to seldom watching television possibly be a suitable Chairman?

I fear he will be used and manipulated by you and your controlling cabal as so many others have been, and then chewed up and spat out if he dares to challenge you in any way. I am therefore calling on him to resign from the post, and indeed as a member of the party, with his dignity and reputation in tact and find better uses of his time and resources to contribute to the campaign to get Britain back.

What remains of UKIP is a shipwreck of a party, consisting of a Dad’s Army of largely well meaning, patriotic and generous people who have no idea about the corrupt nature of those at the top, such as yourself, Mark Croucher, Annabelle Fuller, Tom Wise and Douglas Denny to name but a few. Indeed, with their track records, I would consider all of them suitable candidates to become European Commissioners. The way you are lining your pockets, you would be in good company in the current Commission.

I no longer wish to remain in this increasingly autocratic party, led by a corrupt leader who must be obeyed by all at all times.

With your dreadful professional and personal track record, you can be sure you will be found out soon enough, and I doubt it will be very long before you cause UKIP and yourself embarrassment in the press, killing off UKIP once and for all in the process.

I also wish to call upon the many, many decent ordinary members I have had the privilege of knowing and working with to resign their party membership, as they are doing the euro- sceptic cause far more harm than good remaining in a party led by you and your cabal.

I therefore call on all ordinary members to abandon this sinking ship led by a rogue Captain, and to confront head- on the tragic conflict of loyalties with which I have myself wrestled for perhaps too long.

The campaign to restore Britain’s sovereignty requires a serious political party led by people of integrity. Instead, we have a joke party led by a two- faced philandering drunk, who enjoys the wealth and trappings his role brings, yet in reality has contributed very little towards the goal getting Britain out of the European Union and restoring British sovereignty.

Thursday, 5 October 2006

It is with great sadness and after much consideration that I have today sent by eMail and Royal Mail to The Chairman of UKIP the following letter:

5 October 2006

Dear Chairman,

Please be so good as to accept, and post on UKIP.org, this my letter of resignation from The UK Independence Party.

It was a privilege to be elected Chairman of UKIP Wales and work to represent the members in restructuring and introducing an organisational structure for growth. I would like to thank, for their invaluable assistance, John Bufton as Regional Organiser and my hard working and supportive committee and members in Wales. I am pleased to have been able to help turn UKIP Wales around and put in place foundations for growth and success in the National Assembly Elections next May.

I was honoured to be elected by the membership to represent them on the NEC, where they believed I had specialist skills and experience to best represent their interests, to the benefit of UKIP and its primary cause.

When I stood for the leadership election I did so, on a ticket of Transparency, Integrity and Equality. These standards reflect my inner beliefs, as well as the moral, ethical and Christian principles upon which I have based my whole life. I knew there were significant problems with the Party, and also believed that the moral integrity of a number of people at the top left much to be desired.

It was my belief that should I be elected leader these problems could be resolved and the Party then could move forward together, on a firmer footing in probity and strength.

Nothing however prepared me for the scurrilous behaviour, defamatory comments and downright dishonesty of some of Nigel Farage’s & David Bannerman’s staff, supporters and members of the Press Office staff, in which they clearly colluded.

I was accused of having associations with the BNP – even when these scoundrels knew that my grandfather was murdered by the Nazis in a concentration camp and my Great Grandfather was discovered hanged by them from a lamp post near his home by my 14 year old Father. Further I am angry that UKIP’s leadership were happy to collude in this base and obscene slur, particularly in the light of the fact that I have been ‘courting’ a young woman from St Lucia for the last 2 years, she herself has been victimised by racial abuse.

I was accused of being a homosexual, despite no evidence of this, and my having been happily married for 14 years, a marriage which sadly ended in an amicable divorce and now subsequently I am courting the above mentioned lady.

I was accused of having ‘run up’ a company debt of £4millions in one of my businesses when these accusers knew that I had purchased the company with secured debts, that it had already accrued, amounting to £4millions of losses. My business is in the field of mergers and acquisitions, specialising in the purchase, development and sale of problematic companies. My critics in this area are either commercial illiterates or unarguably dishonest either of which reflects ill on the competence of the new leadership.

My local newspaper was contacted by an UKIP official and advised to look into some of these accusations – in order to attempt to taint my unblemished reputation.

Even friends within my own local Conservative Party have informed me that they were asked for ‘any dirt’ they had on me including my political, personal and business affairs.

This list shamefully goes on.

Despite all of this I was willing to forgive and forget. I called for Party unity behind the new leader Nigel Farage, regardless of how he had gained his new position. I hoped this would in some way result in a change of attitude.

Clearly it did NOT. Farage colluded with, and thus endorsed the scurrilous behaviour. He was not prepared for his staff to apologise for the BNP allegations as he felt that the issue ‘would go away’ – and he tried to justify the concern on the basis that a fellow NEC member David Abbott volunteered his support of my leadership candidacy. (David Abbott is the very man whom Farage and his secretary Douglas Denny introduced and actively supported to the NEC and only turned against when he supported my candidacy.)

Farage also claimed concern in that a Mr Andrew Edwards supported my leadership bid on an internet blog that he runs. I am to be tainted by this, even though I have never posted on his site, spoken to, nor communicated with the said person, who I am advised is NOT a member of UKIP.

Farage has also claimed that a long term associate of his, Greg Lance-Watkins is a supporter and associate of the BNP, of which I have seen no evidence – yet this seems to besmirch my reputation, as G.L-W. openly supported my candidacy, having stated, based on extensive personal dealings with Nigel Farage that “he was a good performer for UKIP but lacked either the probity or competence to lead UKIP.”

This logic that UKIP’s new leader has adopted if seriously applied, must call into question his own credentials, bearing in mind both his long term association with G.L-W. and that the BNP actually refused to stand against Farage, and supported, his candidacy at the Bromley by-election. Does this make Nigel a BNP supporter?

Rather than be magnanimous in victory and help the Party unite, Nigel and his clique overturned a perfectly legitimate democratic vote at the NEC which had elected Geoffrey Kingscott (a most honourable man) as Party Secretary, denying the Party of another person with integrity at the top, and placing his supporter the discredited Douglas Denny in the post.

A witch hunt has now commenced, seemingly with the aim to disingenuously massage MEP lists, with the disciplinary hearing of Peter Baker for daring to make public his committee’s majority voted opposition to Roger Knapman’s morally questionable exploitation and involvement in a Polish Workers import business run by his son.

Similarly Dennis Brookes a loyal and devoted supporter and Regional Organiser of UKIP would seem to have been victimised, for having the temerity not to object to his committee’s support of my candidacy, and this apparently has contributed to losing him his job. I have no doubt from Nigel’s discussion with me, subsequent to the election, that others too will suffer similar fates.

On policy issues, Nigel has made statements already, that make it clear to me, we are to become a shadow alternative Tory Party. A pressure group created to persuade the Tories to dump Cameron and change its policy on the EU. I am sorry; I did not leave the real Tory party to join a poor imitation.

I believed UKIP was sincere in its endeavour to extricate Britain from the European Union, returning sovereignty to a British Parliament and playing a full independent part in that new Parliament.

On financial and transparency issues, I believe a cloud still overhangs the Ashford call centre and various aspects of UKIP accounts. Also the financial dealings and involvement in fraud, (as exposed by the media), of Tom Wise, one of UKIP’s MEP’s, have not adequately been resolved.

Likewise there has been a lack of transparency of others. I have contended that funding mechanisms are too heavily reliant on the EU, as this makes us subservient to the very body from which we wish to disassociate and which we openly accuse of corruption particularly in the area of accounting!.

I stood for leader knowing full well that it was a challenge I was unlikely to win. Farage had control of a number of advantages that if abused would guarantee him success. Knowing this, I was more than surprised that he allowed his cronies, supporters and certain staff to openly and reprehensibly lie and rubbish a loyal UKIP member, with elected duties, who devoted the last 2 years of his life, full time, unpaid, to help UKIP progress.

Even now in ‘victory’, Farage appears determined not to change his ways, and because of this I cannot support this Party under his leadership any longer.

Reluctantly I am left with no honourable action open to me other than leave, as I am not prepared to give my good name, reputation and integrity in support of Farage and many in his clique. I therefore stand alongside other Party devotees and former NEC members, Anthony Butcher, Gill Chant and others (not to mention the many activists who have already resigned).

My heart and my grateful thanks go out to all of those who supported me and the values in which we believed, and those who have committed so much of their lives in their patriotic pursuit of regaining democracy, British Independence and Sovereignty.

It does not give me any satisfaction to realise that the old saying “Fish Rots from the Head Down” may have more than a cursory resemblance to UKIP.

Please be so good as to convey to the membership my very best wishes and thanks for allowing me to serve them! At the moment I feel honour bound to continue the struggle for liberation from the EU and better Governance outside of UKIP, but would be happy to reconsider my position should there be notable changes within UKIP in the future under very different leadership.

Britaine

ZIMBIO

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